Ministers today strongly criticised a campaign poster by a group opposing the Nice Treaty depicting a man with a gun held to his head.
Voters will decide on October 19th in a second referendum on whether to ratify the so-called Nice Treaty which will pave the way for 10 Eastern European and Mediterranean countries to join the EU.
A rejection of the first Treaty referendum by 54 per cent sent shockwaves through Europe in June 2001.
The "No to Nice Campaign" poster distributed in Ireland carries the slogans "Same bad treaty", "Don't be bullied. Vote No", with a photograph of a gun being held to a man's head.
The Minister for Justice Mr McDowell described the poster as "crude and scaremongering".
Progressive Democrat party director of elections for the Nice campaign and a junior minister, Mr Tom Parlon, said the No campaign "had gone beyond the bounds of decency with this disgraceful and misguided image."
He added the imagery was highly inappropriate and offensive and "particularly distressing for families who have suffered at the hands of paramilitary violence and also those who have had to deal with the tragedy of suicide".
It evoked disturbing memories of violence in Northern Ireland at a time when every responsible person was striving to remove the gun from Irish politics, Mr Parlon said.
However, Mr Justin Barrett of the No to Nice Campaign said that the poster was merely depicting a political metaphor with a graphic image.
"It is quite clear that what the Taoiseach is doing in political terms is putting that gun to our head," he added.
Ireland is the only EU member yet to ratify the Nice Treaty, which must be in force by the end of this year - and the only country which has held a national vote on the issue.
AFP